


james rhodes: strategic genius

by kayytx



Series: ficlets from tumblr: ironing man & washing machine [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, cat lady tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 14:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20893349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayytx/pseuds/kayytx
Summary: Every time their kitten leaves Tony to snuggle up with Rhodey instead, Tony gets a bit upset about it. Sure, he tries to hide it, but Rhodey's observant and he's not dumb. So he comes up with a solution.





	james rhodes: strategic genius

**Author's Note:**

> i was given a great prompt a while ago that allowed me to fill the **surprise pet adoption** square in my ironhusbands bingo and i completely forgot to cross post here loollll anyway this would make more sense if you read [snowball kitten](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20893229) first.
> 
> also, ms. bonernas is one of the funniest people ever and gives the best prompts.

To be honest, Tony was pretty upset that Mochi started following Rhodey around and cuddling up to him after her leg was all healed. It was a complete 180 from how she acted when they first brought her home, and Tony’s willing to admit that he’s super jealous of all the kitty cuddles Rhodey’s getting now. _Tony_ was the one who found her and stayed with her while the vet fixed her up. Sure, Rhodey named her and went out into the oncoming blizzard to get all the new pet supplies they needed, but _Tony_ was the one who bathed her in love and affection the minute he laid eyes on her. He was the one who carried her to the vet, who held her in his arms and kept her warm during the car ride home. He practically slept on the floor next to her, that first night, although “sleep” was more of a concept and less of an actual function at that point.

Mochi loves Tony, he knows. While her leg was still healing, she was always gently headbutting him and nuzzling into him when he was on the couch watching a movie or tapping away on his tablet. She’d fallen asleep on his chest more times than he could count, and he has the selfies to prove it.

So he just doesn’t understand why she doesn’t seem to like hanging out with him anymore.

* * *

Because Rhodey is attentive and caring as hell, he notices pretty quickly how Tony’s smile starts to falter whenever Mochi picks herself up from where she was originally sitting with him to go plop into Rhodey’s lap instead. So one morning, after breakfast, he suggests going to the local shelter.

“I just figured maybe we can adopt another cat, so Mochi can have a playmate when we’re not around,” Rhodey tells Tony. He doesn’t want to make it obvious that he’s doing this more for Tony’s sake than Mochi’s.

At the shelter, Tony immediately falls in love with every single cat he meets. It’s hard for him to choose which one to bring home with them because they’re all just perfect.

The volunteer at the shelter brings Tony and Rhodey around, introducing them to all the animals in their care. They come across a pile of black kittens that have fallen asleep together, and she tells them, “We get a lot of black cats. A lot of people tend to care more about their superstitions than their pets…so here they are.”

As Tony crouches down to get a better look at them, one pair of eyes in a sea of black blinks open and stares right at him. The kitten wriggles its way out of the pile and pads up to Tony, meowing softly.

“This one. I’ll take this little cutie right here,” Tony tells the volunteer.

Tony follows the volunteer to the office so she can get the adoption forms ready for them, and right before she closes the door, another, slightly older, grey tabby cat slips in with them.

“He’s been following us around since we got here,” Rhodey says, amused. He glances at Tony, who already has all his attention focused on the cat. “I think he likes you.”

“Let’s take him home with us too. Is that okay?” Tony asks.

“Of course.”

This time, Tony’s the one to come up with their names. The tiny black cat is Susu (short for Susuwatari because she looks like a giant ball of soot and Tony is forever a Ghibli nerd) and the tabby, Jonathan (because human names for animals are fucking hilarious). Rhodey and Tony get their name tags engraved immediately.

The new kittens love Tony. They definitely love him more than they love Rhodey. They follow Tony around, climb up to the counter while he makes his coffee, sit in the sink when he takes a shower, and curl up next to him when he lounges on the couch.

And if this prompts Mochi to leave her post next to Rhodey and join her new friends and climb onto Tony’s lap with them? Well. Rhodey can’t bring himself to mind when it gets Tony to smile so much.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr post [here](https://robertdowneyjjr.tumblr.com/post/185830868847)!


End file.
